Silent Fright
by Kingpin1055
Summary: Christmas time and the guys are getting ready, however, there is one person who wants to end the holiday, re-edited version of my second story. I'll try to get a HTML version


All rights reserved to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures. This follows year three (1985) of the Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline.  
  
Silent Fright  
  
"Silent Night, bloody night...."  
  
Chapter One December 18th 3:04PM  
  
The snow cruched underneath his boots as he walked down the pedestrIain filled Fifth Avenue. Winston Zeddemore glanced up at the christmas lights that were suspended across one of New York's most famous streets. All around him were christmas lights, sparkling tinsel, steam rising up from the air vents and all of the other signs of the holiday period. It was about a week to Christmas, and he was taking the opportunity to get some shopping done before the shops started selling out. He walked into Macy's and was hit by a wave of heat from the store's heaters.  
  
Comics...comics...where the hell are the comic? Winston walked over to a store directory. The Book Department was two floors above. Normally Winston would have jogged up the escalator but it was jam packed like it had been all month. He finally reached the second floor and headed over to the Book Department for his goal. He walked up to the section that dealt with limited editions. "Um, excuse me. Do you have any copies of Captain Steel number...uh," Winston checked the note he'd made. "45?" Winston asked the clerk behind the counter.  
  
"45?" the clerk gave a whistle. "You're lucky sir, there's one left and that is a miracle in itself seeing as it's a limited edition."  
  
"Yeah, a friend of mine has been collecting them since he was a kid and that issue's one he's been looking for a long time." Winston explained.  
  
"Well sir may I say you have excellent taste, this happens to be one of my personal favourites." The clerk placed the comic into a plastic bag and handed it over to Winston. Winston pulled out the appropriate amount of cash.  
  
"You a fan as well?" Winston placed the small plastic bag in a larger rucksack which was strapped to his back.  
  
"Yeah, but I became one later on, I'm still trying to get the first issues." Theclerk replied as he rang up the sale, he then handed back Winston's change.  
  
"Thanks." Winston smiled and resumed his journey. Right, that's Ray's comic sorted out, next I need a gift for Egon, Peter, Slimer and Janine.  
  
***  
  
Viewed from the street the Firehouse has remained relatively the same. However snow rested on most of the exterior surfaces and ledges, christmas lights lined the insides of the Firehouse's windows, a banner hanging above the garage doors read "Merry Christmas from the Ghostbusters" and a large Christmas Tree dominated the windows of the second floor Rec Room.  
  
"Good one Slimer, thanks for eating the popcorn chains, now what are we gonna use to decorate the tree?" Peter shot an angry glare at Slimer. Slimer made a face, and devoured the last of the popcorn chain.  
  
"Peter, if you had adequately estimated the situation, you would of been well aware Slimer would eat the first batch of popcorn chains." Egon replied from the kitchen while wearing of all things.....a Santa hat. "There is, however, several strands of tinsil which can be used until the replacement popcorn strands are ready, they're in the same box as the Christmas Tree light strings."  
  
"Good thing the ghosts took the hint to keep quiet this week, we could use a quiet Christmas for once." Janine said as she carried up four cups of coffee.  
  
"Ah, thanks." Ray gratefully accepted his cup. He had been sat under the tree attaching glass baubles and tinsel while Peter sorted out the tangled fairy lights. The news blared on the TV in the background.  
  
"...New Yorkers won't have to worry about not having a white Christmas, we'll be expecting more of the white stuff over the next week along with sheets of ice, so drivers it's tire chain time. The temperatures are expected to drop to at least 20- degrees and may fall even further by midweek, meteorologists have warned that the water in the bay might in fact freeze so the Port Authority has set up a warning to all majour shipping companies not to travel out unless extremely neccesary, now back to the studio." The weatherman smiled and changed to a femal news reader.  
  
"Thankyou Andrew, Todays top stories again, Mayor GuilIaini has officially declared the start of the Christmas season when he turned on the Christmas tree at a ceremony at Rockerfeller Center. In a measure to cut down on traffic accidents, the New York Police Department has announced an increase in traffic calming measures throughout Manhattan and the outer boroughs." The screen broke into static a for a few seconds and returned to normal.  
  
Chapter Two 4:09PM  
  
The sign read "Wagner's Occult Store." It had been two years since the occult store had been raided by the Ghostbusters and Alice Derleth, in search for the Cult of Cthulhu, it was now a legitimate business...as legitimate as a occult shop was, anyway. Winston stepped in through the door into the bookstore. The room was filled with objects and artifacts of Satanic cults, mystic creatures and demonic Gods. And even though it was an occult store the owner had decided to decorate a little, the most comical thing being the skull wearing a Santa hat, grinning away at the customers, which didn't number very high.  
  
"Good afternoon Mr. Zeddemore, what can I do for you?" The middle-aged bookstore owner put on his glasses.  
  
"Have you got the updated version of 'Roylance Guide of Demons and Gods'?" The store owner checked his computer database.  
  
"Here we go, we're doing a special service this week. Spend more than twenty dollars and get your books gift wrapped." Winston gave a surprised look at the store owner.  
  
"How did you know it was a gift?" A mischevous smile crossed the store owner's face.  
  
"Call it a sixth sense." The store owner placed the book into a paper bag bearing the store's name.  
  
It's here! This book is the key to ending it, what a better way to destroy a holiday and the disgusting happiness it causes by creating a killer storm? one of which would make the present storm that was being unleased on Manhattan seem like a gentle breeze. I must have this book! He thought, studying the spells in the book.  
  
Winston took a quick check of the Ghostbusters' backorder. "Have you also got the order we put in for 'Nameless Rights of the Elementals'?" He asked.  
  
"Indeed we do Mr. Zeddemore, it's right over..." the store owner started shuffling books that were stray across the glass counter. He glanced over to a man who was standing near the end of the counter.  
  
"Excuse me sir, that book's already been reserved. Could you please pass it over here?"  
  
NO! This can't be happening, my chance to enact my revenge and it's being snatched away! He fumed, but then a idea struck him. "Sure....sure!" The stranger slid the book across the counter and started to gather his parcels.  
  
"Thankyou sir." The store owner wrapped up the book in wrapping paper, he glanced at the man again, a little suspicious, but then shrugged the feeling away, he then handed the giftwrapped books to Winston. "That'll be $56.50 please."  
  
"Thanks." Winston replied, handing the store owner the appropriate amount of cash. He then turned and began to leave the store. The man who'd been off to the side of the glass counter moved over to the store owner.  
  
"I'll take these, please could you gift wrap them?" the store owner eyed him uneasily but wrapped up the customer's books in colourful wrapping paper.  
  
***  
  
Right, that's Ray's Comic, Peter's music and Egon's books. Next I'll need to get Janine's and Slimer's presents. Winston mentally noted, he started unstrapping his rucksack to put the books in. A few moments later a man with a pile of parcels stumbled into him. Winston's rucksack and the man's parcels tumbled to the ground and the contents spilled.  
  
Yes! Unknown to Winston the man swapped one wrapped book for another. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there!" The man gathered the rest of his parcels and helped Winston with his, feighing both clumsiness and helpfulness. "Damn ice, never know where it could be." He added.  
  
"It's okay, just be careful, you don't want to be spending Christmas with a twisted ankle." Winston warned as he slung his bag back onto his shoulder, it had started to snow again.  
  
"Thanks for the advice, Merry Christmas." The man waved, walking away with the pile of giftwrapped parcels.  
  
"Merry Christmas to you." Winston returned, he walked a few paces, looked back, shrugged and continued on walking.  
  
Eeugh! I can't belive I stooped so low to say that! nevermind, I have the book. Now I shall have my revenge on these pathetic people...I'll teach them to put so much into such a stupid holiday. The man thought sourly, a small grin appeared on his face.  
  
***  
  
"I'm home guys!" Winston shouted up as he closed the smaller door in one of the garage doors. Wiping snow off of his coat he walked towards his equipment locker. Janine walked down the stairs, followed by Slimer.  
  
"So how did it go? Got everything on your list?" She asked, a small, battery operated pin flashed away on her blouse.  
  
"Yeah, I ran into some trouble after getting Egon's book, but apart from that it's all done." He reported, closing the door to the equipment locker. They then walked over to the reception area which held Janine's desk.  
  
"What about presents for your family?" Janine asked as she sorted the recent case files into the filing cabinets.  
  
"Already taken care of." He reported, he glanced around, not seeing any of the pther Ghostbusters.  
  
"Well it's good that you've finished, the news is saying that the weather is getting worse." As if to illustrate her point, the lights flickered.  
  
"That isn't a good sign." Winston muttered, the lights resumed he shrugged. "I've left the things I got in the locker until Christmas Eve, when I'll then put them under the tree. And Slimer stay out, Peter would use an opportunity like you finding your present as an excuse to blast you." This gained Winston a worried look from Slimer.  
  
"I don't want you spoilng the surprise so you'll have to wait."  
  
***  
  
"Aha!" The room suddenly brightened when the multicoloured lights on the tree lit up. "Electric fuse, faulty wire or broken...erm..diode, can't be fixed by Peter Venkman." Peter grinned, emerging from under the Christmas Tree.  
  
"Only due to those specified components aren't intellecutally challenging." Egon replied dryly as brought out a tray of coffee cups.  
  
"Meagre comment, Spengs. I've built equipment which has worked."  
  
"It's lifespan usually depending on how long you spent building it." Egon mused, placing the tray on the coffee table.  
  
"He certainly seems to have gotten over his hate of Christmas wouldn't you say, Egon?" Ray whispered.  
  
"I believe the lesson from the Ghosts of Christmas has been aptly learned." Egon replied, taking a drink from his coffee cup. Winston climbed up the staircase.  
  
"So what's the plan for tonight guys?" He asked.  
  
"Well, we have a classic Christmas film, The Shining." Ray beamed, Peter just shook his head in dismay. "We were planning on watching that at 10:00, and then playing a little poker after that." Ray replied.  
  
"Sounds like a plan." Winston agreed, sitting down on the sofa beside Ray and Egon. Peter swore as the lights on the christmas tree flickered out again.  
  
Chapter Three 6:03PM  
  
He walked into his apartment and dropped his bags down on the couch. If he'd been a normal person living in New York he would have had Christmas decorations brightening the place, but as he unusual aproach to Christmas, the apartment lacked any form of decoration.  
  
"Hehhehheh...it's mine, hehe..it's really mine! The fools thought I was crazy to want to destroy Christmas, but who are the fools now, them! For not believing me, hehheh." The man pulled out the book wrapped in colourful wrapping paper and tore the paper off, beneath lay a leather bound book with metal clasps. Upon the cover were the words 'Nameless Rights of the Elementals'. "Hehheh, with this book I can teach them all how miserable and grim Christmas can be. Hehhehhehhehheh..." The stranger unclasped the clasps and began flipping the pages in the anchient spellbook until he found what he was looking for. And that night, as the last of the people on the streets made it to their homes they couldn't help but wonder if the storm had taken on a new lease of life, it almost seemed as if it were alive...  
  
Chapter Four 9:53PM  
  
He had a good hand. A Royal Flush. Winston sighed.  
  
"Well Winston, what will it be?" Peter looked at him dead in the eye, a green dealer's cap strapped to his forehead.  
  
"A Royal Flush." Winston placed down his hand. Ray and Egon had already played their hand's.  
  
"Bust." Peter threw his cards down.  
  
"Thankyou gentlemen, miss, and Slimer." He gathered together the matchsticks.  
  
"Anyone fancy another round?" Winston asked, Ray looked at his watch.  
  
"Gosh, that was a long game, it's nearly midnight, that's gotta be the longest game of poker we've played." Ray exclaimed.  
  
"Wow, where did the time go?" Winston grinned. "I'll pack away the Poker stuff, you guys get to sleep."  
  
"Okay, 'night Winston." Peter replied, throwing the dealer's cap onto the card table.  
  
"Goodnight Winston." Egon added.  
  
"See you in the morning Winston, Janine." Ray nodded.  
  
"Yeah, night." Winston folded up the card table and placed it in a storage closet just off from the rec room. He then put the cards and cap on the bookcase above the entertainment center.  
  
"Goodnight Winston, I'll see you guys in the morning, depending on how bad the traffic is." Winston glanced up to see Janine putting on a thick coat and pull out an umbrella from next to a desk on the second floor.  
  
"Be careful out there, I don't like the looks of it." Winston warned, Janine smiled.  
  
"Thanks." She replied. Winston watched her descend the steps into the darkened garage and heard the small passage door close and lock. He then switched off the ceiling lights and climbed the spiral staircase. Once he had gone through the nightly process of getting ready to bed he walked towards his enticing form of the bed, but decided mid-pace that he wanted to take a quick look out of the curved bedroom window, he walked up to it and peered out into the environment below. Down below in the glow of the streetlights he could see the snow was mounding up and that the wind had knocked over a set of garbage cans, turning, he walked back over to his bed. He settled into it and drifted off as the soft glow of the street lights illuminated the room as the wind howled outside.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
December 19th  
  
8:00AM  
  
The weather hadn't changed that much overnight, the wind still howlled and seemed to be getting stronger.  
  
"...and the Greater New York Area has been issued a storm alert after the wind reached speeds of over 30mph last night. Due to the danger of vehicles being blown of the spans, most of the bridges linking Manhattan to the outer boroughs have been closed, authorities are advising people to use the road tunnels and to expect heavy delays across Downtown and Midtown..." Egon had a grim expression on his face as the situation outside was becoming worse. He glanced up at the window to his left, all it showed was the building across the street and snow, most of the skyline was silhouetted even during the daytime. The wind had picked up and howled like a hungry animal. Even at 8:00 in the morning it was extremely dark, dark enough to warrent having the ceiling lights and even street lights switched on.  
  
"Doesn't look good out there does it?" Winston muttered as he sat down in the arm chair behind the sofa.  
  
"No it doesn't, and I'm worried about Janine, she was supposed to be here by now." He adjusted his glasses. Both men sat in silence listening to the wind rattle the windows in their frames.  
  
"I wonder if those windows can stand the force of the wind on them. And how much more force does it take to break them." Winston pondered, moments later the telphone downstairs began ringing.  
  
"I will answer it." Egon replied as he walked over to the staircase. Winston unmuted the television to listen the breaking news.  
  
"...Reports are coming in from hospitals over New York of casualties from traffic accidents, dislodged parts of buildings and large snowbanks. Authorities have closed the New Jersey Turnpike, Highway 95 and all airports in the area, meteorologists are calling this the worst that has hit New York in over fifty years. A crash in the Park Avenue tunnel has backed up traffic all the way to..." Five minutes passed and Egon climbed back up the staircase.  
  
"That was Janine, she said her car has been snowed under, she's going to try commute on the Subway from Brooklyn but she doesn't know if she'll be able to get here before 9:00AM, she mentioned that if the weather gets any worse, she may simply remain at home." Egon reported.  
  
"Hmmm, it sounds like the apocalypse out there but we'll just have to ride it out, we can't do anything about it." Winston scowled at the weather. "Some Christmas." He sighed.  
  
"It does sound like the norse end of the world, the real Ragnorock, where the earth became frozen in a torrent of ice and snow." Egon mused, a sudden gust rattled the windows again, causing both Egon and Winston to look up. The lights flickered again, longer this time.  
  
"I'm starting to get worried by that, can't be a good sign if they're flickering." Winston admitted.  
  
"If it gets to the point of a total power outage then we'll need to ensure the Containment has it's generator hooked up, I'll start getting the generator ready." Egon explained, he then turned and walked back down the stairs to the garage.  
  
***  
  
Janine hated the Subway, she had nearly celebrated when she'd been able to buy herself a car just so she could leave the crowded, ill lit Subway trains and stations. The temperature wasn't much higher down in the Subway station then up on the street level and the top half of the staircase leading up to the street was caked in snow, which was a surprise, because usually the Subway was pretty warm. Even though many people had stayed home the Subway was still generally crowded. The doors rumbled closed and the train began moving, It was a strain trying to hold onto the ceiling rail as the train rocked forward and back, but it was managable. Having already taken two trains to get on the line that lead to the station near the Firehouse, Janine had to wait five more stops until her destination, and then she'll have to do it again when she went home. The lights flickered like they usually did, so no-one was worried about the flow of electricity through the tunnels.  
  
"...I tell you that this storm ain't natural, I mean we've had snow before but it's never been this bad..." A man in a leather jacket chatted to a fellow boozehound.  
  
"...hey Honey, I'm on the train now. Yeah the streets are terrible, no I won't forget the..." A man in a suit and winterjacket spoke into one of those new mobile telephones.  
  
"...this just bites, there was supposed to be a game at Madison Square Garden today but it's been called off..." A Mets fan complained to his girlfriend.  
  
"...so I says 'I don't know about him, But I found it pretty funny'." Janine couldn't help overhearing the disconnected conversations, if you didn't overhear them then something must be wrong with your hearing. The lights flickered and the train started to slow down, only a few people noticed at first, but the slower the train became the more passengers noticed.  
  
"What the?" A woman with toddler asked.  
  
"HEY!" A kid jammed against the door shouted.  
  
"Why's the guy stopping?" A female punk asked as the lights died.  
  
"Somebody help us!" A voice shouted.  
  
"We have to get out of here!" A nother paniked.  
  
"Aw, shut up." A female voice grumbled.  
  
"We're all gonna die!" The driver spoke over the emergency intercom.  
  
"Put a sock in it will ya?" A voice chided.  
  
"The New York Subway Authority apologises for the delay, we are experiencing technical difficulties at the moment, we hope to resume normal services shortly."  
  
*** The driver placed the intercom handset on the cradle and blew out a sigh.  
  
"We're not going to be going anywhere any time soon." He muttered so no- one could hear. He pulled out a portable reading light and a copy of Stephen King's 'The Storm of the Century' and began reading.  
  
***  
  
"Just great!" Janine collapsed into an empty seat and waited with the rest of them in the cold gloom.  
  
***  
  
Why couldn't they make this blasted spellbooks easy? Why did the spells always need ingredients and read out in sequences? Never a strightforward destruction spell! While he was yet to aquire the ingredients needed to perform the next stage, New York was bearing the brunt of the first two stages of an incantation created apocalypse. He had already caused the storm to rile up and set in motion a second teir to the incantation designed specifically to disrupt types of power flow, however it would work nicely on the city's powere grid. "Hehheh...let those who depend on power lose that power!" Blue sparks erupted from the book, he looked out of the window and saw some the buildings of the city blink out. "Hehhehhehheh. Winds of the South, Winds of the North heed my call and chill the wicked with my.....damn!" He thumped his hand on the desk in frustration. He turned the latin dictionary over to find out the word.  
  
"Hehheh...evil will!" He grinned, the storm suddenly picked up. That should hold New York for now, but I'll have to go out and buy more of the ingredients tomorrow.  
  
Chapter Five 9:10AM  
  
Janine's train finally pulled into the Franklin Street Station in TriBeCa, the passengers grumbled while they disembarked the power failure had cost them ten minutes but it had seemed longer. Janine readied herself for he wave of cold that would hit her as soon as she got to street level.  
  
"Shi...brrr!" Janine swore as she pulled the coat tight around her and made a dash for the Firehouse, when she reached it she was able to see ice had formed on the doors, she had to bash the door with her shoulder before it opened. She then had a battle with the wind to get it closed again.  
  
"Are you okay Janine?" Ray asked from her desk.  
  
"I'll live, but I'm going to stay the night here. There is no way I'm going back out there or going back on the Subway the way the power's acting." The lights flickered again. Ray frowned.  
  
"It's a good thing Egon installed an emergency generator in the basement. The power was off long enough to cause the Containment Unit to breach.  
  
"I don't even want to think what may happen if people are on the Subway when the power goes for good." Outside, over the roar of the wind, a police siren wailed. Moments later there was a loud crash and the siren became garbled and died. "What was that?" Janine started running towards the door. Shortly followed by Ray who was pulling his winter jacket on. They burst out of the door and studied the scene in front of them.  
  
"We got to get this guy out of here!" A cop was yelling at his partner who was pulling a injured man out of a smashed up Chrysler. There was a upturned NYPD squadcar with it's bonnet smashed into the side of the Chrysler.  
  
"What happened here?!" Ray shouted over the wind.  
  
"We were heading back to HQ when we hit a hidden snow bump and were flipped and ploughed into that Chrysler!" The cop shielded his eyes from the snow.  
  
"Are you okay?!" Ray shouted in question.  
  
"I am and so is my partner, but the guy in the Chrysler looked pretty bad!" The second cop had the driver of the Chrysler supported on his shoulder.  
  
"Where should I put him Mike?!" The officer, Mike's partner shouted. Mike looked back at Ray.  
  
"Take him inside that firehouse!" Ray pointed towards the Firehouse. Ray and Janine followed as the cops took the towards the Firehouse.  
  
"Do you have a medical kit or something we can use to treat that guy?!" Mike's partner asked.  
  
"Yeah we have a medic kit in the kitchen, should we call for an ambulance?" Ray,Mike, Janine, Mike's partner and the injured driver entered the Firehouse.  
  
"I don't even know if the hospitals are open. I've heard that Lenox Hill has been snowed in and that Goldwater Memorial has lost all power, even it's backup." Mike responded, he tried to radio in the accident, but only got static.  
  
"Egon! Bring the med kit down here we've had a car crash outside." Janine shouted. Egon poked his head up to see what had happened.  
  
"I'll be down in a moment, Janine." Ray and Mike cleared Janine's desk so they could rest the injured man on it. Janine and Mike's partner hovered nearby.  
  
"Ow." The injured man moaned. His right arm and the right side of his face were cut up badly.  
  
"Okay buddy, how many fingers am I holding up?" Mike stuck up two fingers.  
  
"T...two." The man flinched. Egon rushed down the stairs and over to the desk, in his hand was a green, first aid box.  
  
***  
  
"...and scientists are baffled as to the strange atmospheric phenomina that have been plaguing the planet over the past two days. Reports are being received from across the globe of dramatic drops in temperature and changes in climate cycles..." The televison changed it's view from the news reader to that of New York. "The winter storm that had been assaulting New York for three days now has defied all known logic by what some scientists are calling the 'Climate countdown effect'. Supposedly that during certain points in a sun's life it cools down causing temperature flucuations." The view change to that of Big Ben and the houses of Parliament in London, most of the available ledges of the buildings were covered in thick snow, the Thames appeared to have frozen. "For the first time this century the River Thames in London has frozen solid, causing massive losses in London's Tourist and shipping industries." The view changed again to that of the Eiffel Tower and the darkened Paris skyline. "Paris City officials have declared a code one storm alert and all major tourist attractions have been closed. Artworks in museums including the famous Mona Lisa have been removed and stored in protective shelters in the museum basements." The view changed to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. "The German goverenment has been stockpiling food and provisons to provide to families that have been snowed out, emergency shelters have been set up in most goverment buildings until the crises ends." The view changed to a picture of a snow- encrusted White House. "In a statement earlier today the President gave the press these details on the current actions that the US Goverenment would be taking to prevent widescale damage." The view changed to that of the podium in front of the blue curtains. The screen filled with static again and then cleared.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of the United States." The President walked up a podium which bore the seal of the President of the United States, the podium was set in front of a blue curtain which had a plaque depicting the White House.  
  
"Thankyou, Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, My fellow Americans: As you are all aware that this storm that currently assaults Washington DC and every other part of the planet isn't showing any sign of ending, It is my opinion and the opinion of the federal council that a national storm warning must be enforced. This will mean that until the storm ends that there is to be a controlled situation. The measures are as follows: All major highways and express routes are to be closed down, all towns and cities are to set up designated storm shelters and to create stores of provisions with an appropriate number. To see that people don't take the storm as an opportunity to loot stores I am also declaring marshal law upon the whole of the United States until this storm ends. The military will be setting up tactical centers in the main offices of Police Departments in every major city..." The screen faded into static.  
  
"CNN apologises for the break in service, please stand by."  
  
***  
  
On the roof of the local CNN building in New York, the transmitter mast gave out a low moan as the tower strained against the wind.  
  
"She can't stand the stress the wind's giving her!" The first engineer shouted as the tower lurched backwards, an explosion of sparks shot out from the industrial cables as they snapped one-by-one.  
  
"She's going!" A second engineer shouted. The tower gave off two more explosions of electrical sparks and collapsed down into the street below. The two enigineers ran over to the edge of the building and looked over the guard rail.  
  
"If anyone was down there when the mast collapsed then they would have had no chance!" The first engineer muttered.  
  
***  
  
It had been about twenty minutes since CNN had gone off the air, so deciding to watch the local news until CNN came back on Winston changed channels.  
  
"...just received reports from the CNN news building that normal service has been disrupted after they're transmition mast was blown down, engineers say that they won't be able to start work until the wind quietens down." Winston sighed knowing that now it wouldn't be restored until probably after Christmas. "NYPD and FDNY officers and crew have been working around the clock after at least six cars were involved in an accident when one of the large billboards in Times Square was blown down, we now go to Matt Stone live at the scene." The view changed to snow clogged Times Square. The camera showed the building that stood at the North end of Times Square which held the Coca-Cola billboard. The Suntory Whisky billboard had collapsed from the building and was now a mangled pile of broken glass and twisted steelwork lying on the roadway, beneath it's crumpled and twisted framing were at leat six cars, most of them were caved in.  
  
"This is Matt Stone reporting live from Times Square." The reporter braced himself on a lamppost as a sudden gust of wind shot through the square. "Seven cars have been involved in a accident in Times Square and acre currently were trapped under the wreckage that until 9:00AM made up one of the largest billboards in the neon heart of New York. So far the NYPD and FDNY have been able to rescue five people from the wreckage, but have been severely undermined by the storm that caused this tragedy...." Ray and Mike stood in the garage as Winston watched the news.  
  
"We've managed to get a radio signal and have contacted a nearby SWAT van to swing by and pick us up. Thanks for the help." Mike replied.  
  
"You're welcome Officer..?"  
  
"Officer Mike Turnbull." Ray and Mike shook hands.  
  
"Goodluck out there." Ray replied.  
  
"We'll need it." Mike replied honestly. He walked over to the door where his parter and the injured man waited.  
  
Chapter Six 4:55PM  
  
Stage three was performed and done, he now needed the ingredients to perform stage four. And he had those. But he had a bit of a sadistic sense of humour, he decided to that he'd recite the phase for stage four tomorrow, the 20th of December. He walked over to his sash window and stared out at the city outside. If you removed the buildings it would look like the Arctic. The city seemed to shiver as it was buffeted and beaten by the harsh weather. It made him all the more happy to see it happening.  
  
Well you've do it, you've really done it. A voice replied.  
  
"Shut up." He replied.  
  
You've done it, you've finally gone off the deep end and done the one thing you thought was the perfect revenge. The voice chided sarcastically.  
  
"Shut up!" He shouted.  
  
You've gone and condemmed millions of lives a fate that they don't deserve. The voice continued.  
  
"They deserve it." He replied.  
  
Why? because they like to enjoy each other's company in a time where they can be happy? The voice asked.  
  
"Yes." He replied, a smirk on his face.  
  
Not a nice way to deal with your problem with Christmas, you could have just gone to a country that doesn't celebrate? Like Africa. There's no need to condem the whole world to an icy death. The voice replied.  
  
"Well, I'm getting my revenge now, I don't need to care anymore, and I don't have to listen to you anymore!" He picked up a lamp and threw it in the direction of the voice. It hit the wall and shattered, always hit the wall and shattered. The one person he hated more than Christmas and he couldn't even deal with him.  
  
It's always the same Iain, you throw things at the area you hear my voice but never hit me. Why can't you undestand that it never does anything, as long as you're sick you'll never be rid of me. The voice replied. I'm what you'll never be until you get help.  
  
"Why must you always spoil my fun?" Iain wailed.  
  
Because someone has to, someone has to make sure that you don't do something incredibly stupid.  
  
"I've already done that."  
  
Yes, but you haven't succeeded, there's still a chance I can convince you to stop, and if not me then someone else.  
  
"You may be a part of me, but as long as I have this book you'll never win!" Iain shouted at the voice.  
  
Someone has to save you...from yourself... The voice faded. Iain rested his head against the cold glass and cried. The voice was alway there, ruining his fun and spoiling the times he was having success. He opened his eyes and stared out at the city again and the thought passed through his mind, not his own thinking but another's.  
  
Someone has to save you, otherwise soon you can never be saved. Iain continued to stare off at the skyline, the sharp edges broken by the torrent of snowflakes falling from above.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
December 20th  
  
9:04AM  
  
Grand Central Station  
  
Over the past century the grand concorse had seen hundreds of commuters making their daily journey to work or home, however during the storm the station's commuter number has fallen. Gary Edwards had been working as a security guard at Grand Central for three years, as he was only 28 he had expected a more exciting line of work, but had chosen this one just to get some cash flowing into his landlady's account. He didn't even know why he'd bothered coming into work today. He doubted anyone would try anything stupid during this storm.  
  
"Hey Frank, anything to report?" He spoke into his radio. He was answered by a yawn.  
  
"No, it's completely deserted up here."  
  
"Have you heard from Joe?" Gary asked.  
  
"He said that he'd go check the Oyster Bar, but he doubted if there'd be anyone there at this hour, or during this storm." Normally Grand Central would have had the ceiling lights turned off because at that time of day sunlight have been pouring in through the arched glass and wrought iron windows. But as the city was completely covered in storm clouds it was as dark as early evening. And it was so quiet on the main concorse that Gary could heard the ticking of the four faced clock on top of the circular information office, and he could hear the swift, nearly ghostlike movement of the ecalators leading up into the MetLife Building. He had simply put it down to the building shifting due to the wind outside, but he was becoming worried at the low creaking noise that he kept hearing near the front of the building, near the roof.  
  
***  
  
The figures that flagged the clock high above the main concorse of Grand Central Station on 42nd Street were Minerva, Hercules and Mercury. Had the architect known about the storm that would befall New York and the rest of the world then they might have picked a more appropriate choice. Had anybody been braving the elements to view the victorian railway station they might have notice a slight movement from the clock and statues, barely noticable at first, but the stronger the wind became the faster the statues shook. Those who would have been standing directly below the clock and the plaque baring the station's name would have noticed parts of stone work fall to the snow mounds that had built up on the roadway.  
  
And had anyone been inside the station along with Gary Edwards they would have noticed the biggest disaster to befall the station. When he heard the short rumbling he got up from his chair and walked towards the front of the station. He thought he saw dust start to drift down from one of the brass chandleirs suspended above the concorse.  
  
"What the Hell?" Gary asked. The chandleir flickered and began to sway as the metal bracket keeping it in the air partially gave way. "If anybody can hear me we've got something happening at the front of the station."  
  
"What is it Gary?" asked a tired sounding Joe over the radio.  
  
"Something weird going on with one of the chandeliers near the South Balcony." Gary replied.  
  
"Roger that." Frank replied. The chandelier's backed snapped and it shot down, bouncing slightly on the end of the wire.  
  
"It's going!" Gary reported. The lights on the chandelier went out as an explosion of sparks erupted from the ceiling. Gary only had a few moments to get out of the way before the brass chandeleir crashed down onto the balcony in front of him and then fell onto the concorse. "Shit!" Gary started running, expecting the chandelier to crush his body, he heard the brass frame collide with the balcony and heard the marble railing break apart and fall to the concorse. That was all he heard. "Wh...what happaned?" He looked up to see that the chandlier had managed to get itself stuck on the balcony.  
  
"Are you okay?!" Frank and Joe were running towards Gary.  
  
"Yeah." Gary checked himself over.  
  
"Guys?" Gary and Frank first looked at Joe, then followed his gaze. There was a hole in the ceiling that was letting the snow in, and it was getting bigger. Glass and metal framewrok tumbled down along with plasterwork and concrete.  
  
"Holy! Get out of here now!" Frank shouted, pushing them away. Moments later a large section of ceiling fell away, the top half of the nearby window exploded and showered glass onto the concorse. The wind was suddenly let lose inside the station, newspapers were blown about from where they had been left lying on the benches and litter was picked up and blasted into the air when the litter bins were knocked over. The glass that was left in the window was now being completely blown out. Had any of the guards been watching the avalanche they would have seen the clock and statues, still attached to a chunk of roof fall through the ravine. The cascade caused more then half of the roof to fall into the station, crushing the information office and the guards.  
  
***  
  
"...three guards left dead and hundreds of people stranded in the latest accident brought on by the storm. The New York Subway system is in chaos after Grand Central Station was partially destroyed by the storm. FDNY officials are saying that the structure had been weakened when..." New York was falling apart and there was nothing that could be done.  
  
"Great, it was a lot easier back when the strange weather was caused by the ghosts." Peter grumbed. Something clicked in Egon's head from what Peter had said, he turned to face Winston.  
  
"Winston, did you pick up 'Nameless Rights of the Elementals' from Wagner's?"  
  
"Yeah, why?" Winston asked.  
  
"'Nameless Rights of the Elementals' deals with, amung other things, weather spells. I would like to study the spells contained in that book, in order to determine whether this storm could be paranormally related." Egon explained.  
  
"Is that wise, Egon? What if it could just be a very bad storm?" Peter asked.  
  
"We must be ready to try any avenue of persuit." Egon explained. Winston rubbed his chin at the thought.  
  
"I'll go get it." He replied, getting up.  
  
***  
  
"Hehheh..let's see, I've knocked CNN off the air, destroyed Grand Central Station and plunged the entire world into a icy apocalypse. And it's not even dinner yet." He exclaimed with glee.  
  
I'm glad to see someone's enjoying it, it's just a shame the only person enjoying it is you.  
  
"Oh marvelous, have you come to tell me what a bad thing I'm doing?" he replied sarcastically.  
  
No, I've already done that and had no effect, I'm just analyzing you.  
  
"You, analyise me?" He stared off, one of his habits. In the distance he could see the floodlit spire of the Empire State Building. "Soon, soon it will be all falling into place. And when it does I'll be making a little journey."  
  
Don't think that having an entirely different view on what you're doing doesn't mean that I don't know what you know. Give you conscience a little credit. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like it when people have a hobby...but usually a hobby doesn't involve death. The voice replied.  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
5:00PM  
  
Winston placed the book onto the coffee table and began unwrapping the paper.  
  
"Wagner's does giftwrapping?" Peter observed from behind the couch. Egon sat down and undid the giftwrapping, he lurched back when he saw the book contained within the colourful paper.  
  
"What the?" The book lay in front of them, but not the book they expected.  
  
"'Nameless horrors'? This isn't the right book." Egon picked up the book, as he raised it to check the details a plastic card fell out of the sleeve and onto the coffee table.  
  
"What's this?" Winston picked up the card. "Iain Stewarts, Security Guard." Winston read. "It's a swipe card, probably for a door lock or possibly a car park entrance." He handed the card to Egon.  
  
"Does it contain anything else?" Peter asked as he was handed the book.  
  
"No, nothing else." Egon reported. "I doesn't even feature a photograph.  
  
"Hmm, there was a guy in Wagner's who was reading the book when I collected it, and now that I think about it he looked like the guy who bumped into me when I was leaving."  
  
"Obviously Mr. Stewarts was intrested in this book, enough to make him steal it." Egon surmissed.  
  
"You think he's responsible for the storm?" Ray asked  
  
"Do the particle accelerators shoot protons?" Peter asked, flopping into the armchair.  
  
"If he has access to those spells then this could only be the start of the troubles this world will face." Egon explained as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "All we have is a card key and the thief's name. Ray, you and Peter check the phone book for adresses for any Iain Stewarts, Winston and myself will go down to One Police Plaza and try to find out if this man has a criminal history."  
  
"Okay Egon, you two be careful out there, we don't want to risk losing any members of the team." Ray replied.  
  
"Yeah, if you see any mould steer him away from it Winston." Peter whispered to Winston. Egon and Winston put on similar arctic jackets with hoods and gloves.  
  
"We'll be back in about three hours, if you need us, we'll have our radios, but they will not be 100% reliable." Egon replied, then he left with Winston and started walking towards the Subway station, watched from above by Peter, Ray, Slimer and Janine. Ray turned to Peter.  
  
"We'd better get cracking with that phonebook."  
  
***  
  
The Empire State Building  
  
World renowned landmark of New York that had been one of the tallest buildings in the world until it was succeeded by the World Trade Center. Even during wintertime it's Observation Deck would have been packed with tourists, but due to the unnatural storm that has been assaulting the metropolis, the tourist trade had died down. Though it seems this was a blessing, had the tourists been on the Observation Deck at the time they most surely would have been injured, or even killed. The radio/television mast that made up the building's spire was as flawed in design as that of the transmitter on the CNN building, but only because that flaw was born of the mast being designed for winds of less speed than those which were whipping through Manhattan's streets, avenues and parks. As the mast began to sway and shake the pitch the mast gave off as the wind whistled through it's steel skeleton changed as it changed angle. The base posts, already suffering fatigue from the ice,started warming up as the friction from the movement increased. The Building had been closed since two days ago when most other tourist attractions after being deemed public safety risks. Had anyone been on the Observation Deck they would have heard the rending and tearing of metal as the mast gave way and toppled like a steel icicle towards Fifth Avenue 102 stories below. The momentum caried the mast nearly three feet into the ground, piercing a gas main below and resulting in an explosion that shattered the store fronts along the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street.  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
6:03PM  
  
Peter leaned back in the chair and yawned.  
  
"We're not getting anywhere, there are ten Iain Stewarts in the phone book and that means ten different addresses, we need his middle name or something before we can even begin narrowing down the list, and if Murphy's Law takes effect then his middle name starts with a J, like five of the names on the list." Peter groaned. Ray picked up the walkie talkie.  
  
"Winston, Egon. Come in, over." Peter gave Ray a 'what are you doing?' glance. "What?"  
  
"Why must you talk like that?" Before Ray could give him an answer the radio began blaring.  
  
"What is it Ray?" Winston spoke through the radio.  
  
"Could you guys find out what this guy's middle name is when you're there, we're not having much luck here. There's only so many places we can look through quickly, and I doubt we can do ten of them at this rate." Ray explained.  
  
"Will do Ray, over and out." He placed the radio back down on the workbench. Then Peter asked the most innapropriate question he had all week.  
  
"Fancy some pizza?"  
  
***  
  
Winston placed the radio back on his belt and sat back in his seat. The Subway was as rough as it always was and until it became too bad they'd be using it until the storm cleared.  
  
"Ray?" Egon asked, he sat across the carriage from him.  
  
"Yeah, he was asking if we could find out the guy's middle name to make the search easier." Egon pulled his glasses off and wiped the condensation from them. He then placed them back on his nose.  
  
"We're going to be having serious problems with transport, Ecto-1's useless in this weather and with the power fluctuations I fear the subway will be rendered useless." Egon explained.  
  
"What do you suggest?" Winston asked.  
  
"That we use the Ecto-Cat." Egon finished.  
  
"It hasn't been tested yet," Winston replied. He thought for a moment. "I suppose this will be a good opportunity to use it." He looked up at the Subway map and noticed the deceleration of the train. "This is our stop." Winston replied, the train haulted and they disembarked. They readied themselves for the cold as they walked through the Pearl Street Subway station.  
  
"Ready?" Egon asked  
  
"Ready." Winston replied. They started running up the stairs and in the direction of One Police Plaza. They passed half buried taxis and NYPD squadcars. The building looked quite alive, even though the city it served was being buried in a deasert of snow. They pushed their way through the double doors into the reception area. A cop wearing a Seargent uniform greeted them.  
  
"You the Ghostbusters?" She asked. Egon removed his hood.  
  
"Yes." Egon replied. The Seargent shook hands with Egon, then Winston.  
  
"Right this way." The Seargent lead them to a office titled "Records Room". "I must say, it was a little bizarre, the call you placed, you think this guy might be responsible for the storm?" She asked, referring to a call Egon had made at Franklin Street Subway Station before boarding the train.  
  
"We've got all of the files that belong to people named Iain Stewarts living in New York who have criminal records ready for you to read." Egon sat down in front of the computer while Winston walked over to a stack of files. "How long do you expect to be here?" The Seargent asked.  
  
"No more then three hours." Egon reported.  
  
"Okay, when you're done could you turn off the computer and lights? When you've done that let the person at the desk know and they'll lock up the room." The Seargent asked.  
  
"We will." Winston replied.  
  
"Thanks." the Seargent closed the door behind her.  
  
***  
  
He couldn't find it!  
  
"Where is it...where the f**k is it?!" He tore through the bags and parcels he'd had bought the day he got the book.  
  
Looking for something? The voice retorted.  
  
"Why are you bothering to ask that if you already know?" Iain bellowed.  
  
I've got to act human.  
  
"Why do I even talk to you? surely I shouldn't be able to talk to you, this isn't normal!"  
  
Well for someone who isn't normal I thought that this wouldn't come as much of a surprise.  
  
"You can't think! you're only my conscience or subconscience!"  
  
It beats just watching you destroy the world. And what you're looking for is gone.  
  
"Where the f**k did you put it!" Iain shouted, whirling around and picking up something to throw at the unseen speaker.  
  
Iain, Iain, Iain. You forget so easily, I don't really exist. All I am is the voice that tries to save the world, the one true sane voice you've ever heard since you left Mom.  
  
"Huh."  
  
You left it in the book you switched for the spellbook, and that guy is long gone. He could be anywhere in New York by now. Iain tossed the book he was searching through onto his cluttered coffee table.  
  
"Well, it'll be easy enough for me to smash the glass after all, all I need is something hard enough." Iain muttered.  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
Peter stared out of the sash window, if he stayed quiet enough he thought he could hear the glass shaking.  
  
"You ever wonder if these windows will break?" Peter wondered. The pane split down the middle. "Oh."  
  
"Incoming!" Ray shouted. Peter turned and only managed to catch the roll of celotape. He placed a strand across the crack, and four strips around the frame. He also added two strips diagonally for extra measure. "It's a good thing we've got plenty of tape lying around here, because if that wind gets any stronger then we're going to have more cracked windows on the way." Ray replied as he replaced a blown light on the tree.  
  
"I know I've never always enjoyed Christmas, but I know when there are let downs in the holiday. And if someone out there is responcible for this then I'm going to make him pay for what he's done. Nobody should have to suffer when they should be with their family." Ray stared at his friend.  
  
***  
  
"This is the guy!" Winston shouted. Egon looked up from the harsh computer screen and slid the chair over to where Winston was sat reading the files.  
  
"Let's see, Iain .J. Stewart. Lives in Lower East Side, Five counts of damage to private property, two counts of assault and..." Winston let out a whistle "This guy's been in Park View!"  
  
"Does it mention who his allocated doctor was?" Egon asked, studying a photo of Iain Stewarts. Winston checked the papers quickly.  
  
"It doesn't say...but there's a report on his progress at the hospital written by a Dr. Howard Micheals." Winston reported.  
  
"I suggest we try talk to Dr. Micheals." Egon replied.  
  
"Yeah, but should we go straight to the hospital or should we go back to the Firehouse?" Winston asked, closing the file.  
  
"While I would prefer to return promtly to the Firehouse, I fear if we allow more time to pass, the less likely we'll be to stopping Mr. Stewarts before he does something very bad."  
  
"You mean what's happening outside isn't the worst of it?" Winston adked.  
  
"If I'm right, there are some spells that could make this story look very pathetic in comparision, maybe even bring a second ice age onto this planet." Egon explained as he switched off the computer and lights.  
  
"Oh shit." Winston swore, they started running for the exit.  
  
***  
  
He had packed up the things he needed and was now on his way to the place where he'd be finishing the spell. He sat down and stared at the near empty Subway train as it sped toward's it's destination.  
  
"Any time now...any time now." His muttering gained him a suspicious glance from the man in front of him reading the New York Times. "What are you looking at?!" The man quickly folded up his paper and changed seats.  
  
Not much of a people person are you? Iain gave out an annoyed sigh.  
  
"Must you keep bothering me?"  
  
I must if I'm going to try to persuade you not to do this.  
  
"Like that's gonna work...Just shut up and go away." Iain shouted.  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
Since the time Egon and Winston had left the Firehouse, Peter and Ray had had to tape up three windows that had cracked under the force of the wind outside.  
  
"How are things going?" Janine asked, she wore a thick sweater as the heating in the Firehouse had become faulty over the past two days.  
  
"Well, we've taped up three windows and blocked the chimney in the lab so that no more snow can get in, but if we don't get snowed in then we'll freeze to death when the heating finally goes." Ray replied frankly.  
  
"Is the equipment shed okay?" Janine was refering to the fireengine service area in the alley next to the Firehouse.  
  
"Apart from a small mound of snow blocking the doors it's okay." Ray added, Peter walked over to the radio set above the TV and switched it on. Between bursts of static and interuptions from another station they could hear the strained notes of christmas music. Currently, All alone on Christmas was strained out of the radio. "With the mast on the Empire State gone that's not much of a surprise." Ray replied, staring out of the window as a few foolish people tried to walk on the street. The wind whipped up again.  
  
"I just hope that the guys are okay." Janine replied, she sat down on the sofa to watch the static-filled TV screen. The lights flickered and finally went out. The emergency claxons started sounding but soon ended as the generator kicked in.  
  
"Oh no." Peter muttered. The lights came back on, singally a temporary break from the blackout.  
  
"I don't think we'll have power for much longer." Ray muttered.  
  
***  
  
It was surprising that he'd come into work at all, and Egon and Winston were glad for that.  
  
"Dr. Micheals?" Egon asked the man wearing a doctors coat in Dr. Micheals' office. Outside the office window, snow fell at an alarming rate.  
  
"Can I help you?" Dr. Micheals asked, he was middle aged, with a greying beard and a pair of glasses.  
  
"I'm Dr. Egon Spengler and this is Mr. Winston Zeddemore, we're the Ghostbusters and we'd like to ask you about one of your patients, one Iain Stewarts." Egon explained.  
  
"Have a seat." The doctor indicated two leather chairs in front of his desk. Egon and Winston sat down, before Dr. Micheals began he let out a tired sigh.  
  
"Iain was an unusual case, he'd been brought in after he'd been discovered in his apartment with books on the occult. He already had a criminal record by this point and had been brought to my attention before." Dr. Micheals explained.  
  
"What was wrong with him?" Winston shifted uneasily in the chair as he asked the question.  
  
"He shows signs of classic schiztoprenia, when he was 5 years old he was living in Brookly, his father had promiced that he'd be there on Christmas Eve to spend time with his family. His father had worked as a business man and had been out of state on a business trip. However it was a particulary bad storm that year and Iain's father was involved in a ten car pileup on highway 95. Iain and his mother waited and waited, and they only found out that he'd been killed on Christmas Day, Iain took it incredibly bad and blamed his father's death on Christmas, ever since he's hated the holiday. When he was about 18 he moved across the river to Manhattan and started College, but for a few years he would be brought in and locked in a cell over Christmas for damaging property or assualting people. But he'd only ever damage Christmas decorations and attack people dressed in Santa suits. He'd normally take a pair of scissors with him when going outside and cut down people's christmas lights. Two years ago Iain was brought into my care and my colleagues and myself believed that we'd made some real progress. When he was first in my care he could become extremely aggitated and was extremely dangerous. But after time he changed enough to be allowed back into society."  
  
"We believe Mr. Stewarts may be responcible for the storm." Egon explained.  
  
"Iain? I never did believe in the occult, or the supernatural, however, he did have a lot of those books...are you telling me that those things, were real?" Dr. Micheals looked at them.  
  
"We believe he may have been able to get access to books which have created the storm, if what you've told us is his prime motive, he may be using them to aid his vendetta against the holiday." Egon replied.  
  
"Thanks for the help, m'man." Winston replied, they both stood up and began to leave.  
  
"I just hope you can stop before anything else bad happens. Goodluck." They shook hands and then left. As Egon and Winston walked through the deserted hallways, the wind could be heard even that deep into the building's structure.  
  
"Back to the Firehouse?" Winston asked as they walked back towards the reception area.  
  
"Precisely, we need to report the situation to Ray and Peter." Egon and Winston pulled their hoods back up as they exited the building and started walking towards the Subway station.  
  
***  
  
The train slowed to a hault and Iain walked out of the sliding doors. The station was deserted. The only noise was being made by the train that was now pulling away from the platform. Iain started walking up the stairs that would deposit him two streets away from where he was going.  
  
"...I'm spreading the news, I'm leaving today. I wanna be a part of you: New York, New York..." The streets were getting worse all the time, cars were now getting buried up to their hood's. And the intersection ahead Iain could see the half-buried remains of a five car pileup with a bus, a whole lamppost rested on top of the bus, the signals dead. "...Silent night, bloody night. All is calm, all is quiet. New York's gonna pay for it's joy, I'm gonna ruin it for each girl and boy. Christmas is doomed with the storm brewing above....I've covered the world with an icy glove..."  
  
You could use a singing lesson or two, you know that?  
  
"And what will you do? tape my mouth shut?" Iain retorted as the main doors loomed out of the approaching darkness. "Here's my key!" Iain shouted with glee as he threw a brick and it crashed through the glass pane into the lobby, he felt around the inside of the door frame until he found the lock. It opened with a satifying "click." He opened the door, stepped into the building and walked across the empty, dark marble lobby towards the bank of elevators. A spark of power sparked from his finger to the elevator call button as he pressed the button and was rewarded with a metallic "ping". The lift soon arrived at his floor and the doors slid open, briefly illuminating the lobby. He stepped in and pressed the button for the 75th floor of the building. "Soon, very soon." A grin spread across his face as the elevator moved further up the tower.  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
The elevator reached the floor and he stepped out. The place was abandoned, like it had been since the war. But now it would be serving a new purpose. He walked through the reception and then the ballroom, his footsteps echoing as he reached a set of doors set into the corner of the room. As soon as he opened the door the wind howled in. He stepped out onto the balcony and looked around. He had a pristine view of the city from here, just a few block away was the MetLife Building and the destroyed Grand Central below. In the distance he could see the lit roof of the Empire State Building, which looked strange with it missing it's spire. He pulled the book out of the bag he carried with him and set it down on a rusted garden table.  
  
"Time for the final encore!" He screamed at the top of his lungs over the noise of the storm. The spotlights on the crown of the building flashed on with unnatural power.  
  
***  
  
The train pulled into the Vestry Street station. Egon and Winston were only a few streets away from the Firehouse when New York was plunged into darkness. The doors on the subway train were only half open when the station, train and passengers were plunged into darkness, the darkness was only relieved a little by the emergency lighting.  
  
"Now what?" Winston grumbled as he rose from his seat.  
  
"I think we now have to seek alternate routes of transport then the Subway." Egon replied dryly. Winston walked over to the doors and started to push, they were realativily easy to move. Egon and Winston stepped onto the empty platform. Ahead of them were people who were leaping over the turnstiles and smashing the ticket machines.  
  
"What the Hell do they think they're doing?" Winston growlled.  
  
"Doing what many social degenerates do during a situation like this, pilfer and plunder." Egon replied.  
  
"Looters." Winston muttered with anger.  
  
***  
  
Peter and Ray were sitting in the darkened rec room of the Firehouse, only ten minutes before the ceiling and fairy lights had been burning brightly, but now like the rest of New York, they were out. With the heaters shutting down the temperature inside had dropped 10 degrees over the past ten minutes. They had now adopted to wearing coats. Slimer hovered near the television, wearing a small coat and wolly hat. Two gas lamps hissed away as a third moved up the stairs.  
  
"Well, now the phone lines down, I can't even call the local pizza place." clouds of condensation rose from Janine's mouth as she spoke. She now wore a coat over a borrowed brown uniform. The door downstairs slammed.  
  
"What was that?" Peter rose from the couch.  
  
"Guys! Anyone here?" Winston shouted.  
  
"We're up here." Janine yelled down the staircase. A few minutes later Egon and Winston ascended the staircase.  
  
"Good, we can discuss the plan then." Egon explained as Winston and himself walked over to the televison.  
  
"It's no use Spengs, it doesn't work." Peter replied, Egon threw him a menacing look.  
  
"The current situation stands as follows: There's a storm raging over New York that has blocked the roads, so we can't use Ecto-1. The blackout has reduced the Subway to a usless form of transport, and I don't even want to consider trying to fly Ecto-2 in this dangerous weather. This leaves us with one last alternative for transport."  
  
"And that is?" Janine asked.  
  
"The Ecto-Cat." Egon replied.  
  
"The what?" Peter asked.  
  
"The Ecto-Cat, it's a project Ray, Winston and myself have been working on in the event that we would be in an arctic environment." Egon explained.  
  
"Why doen't anybody tell me these things?" Peter muttered angrilly as he slumped back on the couch.  
  
"Nevermind that, that solves the first part of our dilema. Transportation. The second problem is where Iain Stewarts is, if he's wanting to cast a serious spell he probably won't be doing it at his apartment and we've wasted enough time already trying to find him. what we need is some indication as to where he is." A silence decended on the room. Winston walked over to the window and looked out into the distance.  
  
"Hey, guys." He called, they walked over to join him. "I thought this blackout covered the entire island." He asked.  
  
"It does, why?" Egon asked, surprised.  
  
"Well, try telling that to the Chrysler Building, it's spire is lit up like a...err...Christmas tree." The other people in the Firehouse peered out of the window, indeed, in the distance they could make out the floodlit spire of the Chrysler Building.  
  
***  
  
They stood in the repair bay and looked in awe at the latest invention of the resident mad scientists. The main area of the underground repair bay was dominated by a large Snow-Cat. However this one was painted white with red trimming, it featured the Ghostbusters logo on the vehicle's cabin doors and had blue siren lights on the roof. It also sported a set of powerful floodlights to illuminate the way.  
  
"The Ecto-Cat, the vehicle can seat six people and store six proton packs. It comes with a spare part locker, heating and standard equipment that features on all Ghostbusting vehicles." Ray rattled off the vehicle's list of mod cons in the tone of a car saleman. "It also features the GBI insignia and standard emergency lighting as well as some high-power floodlights for such occasions." He grinned.  
  
"It's...a snow mobile." Peter retorted.  
  
"Let's suit up." Winston replied, the five Ghostbusters and ghost slotted their bulky Proton Packs into the pack rack that sat on the left hand side of the vehicle in the rear compartment. They then sat down and buckled up, ready for the journey that would take them two hours. Each of them wore a arctic jacket with a hood and gloves which corresponding uniform colours.  
  
"Has everybody got their jackets and goggles?" Egon asked. The rest of the group confirmed Egon's question.  
  
"Right let's do it, go Ray!" Winston replied with a sly grin. Ray started the engine and pressed the button to open the engine bay doors. They swung inside to allow them to open even if blocked by snow. The Snow-Cat chugged as it moved up the ramp and slowly crushed the metal fence the blocked the end of the alley.  
  
"Let's rock and roll!" Peter cheered as Ray shifted the vehicle forward, they passed the silent bulk of the Firehouse and started moving North towards Central Park.  
  
***  
  
The Statue of Liberty  
  
A symbol of freedom since she was erected in New York harbour in 1886. The statue had seen a lot of wear and tear from the weather, it afterall had turned her copper from a bronze colour to the green colour that made her so recognisable. The torch she held aloft was normally a beacon for ships. But now as the wind hurtled past her crown, the beacon had been extinguished by the blackout. The balcony that surrounded the upper portion of the torch groaned and collapsed to the ground, the unsteady movement caused the snow lying on the statue's goldplated flame to fall towards the statue's pedestal. The torch groaned again as the flame toppled onto the crown, snapping one of the seven spikes. The flame countinued to slide and scrape across the back of her head and started a free fall towards the lower Observation Deck. Liberty enlightening the world had been permenantly extinguished.  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
He stood their on one of the eight silver eagles that flanked the upper portion of the Chrysler Building. He held the book out in front of him as the city shivered at it's icy doom.  
  
"Book of Magiks give me the power, to show this pityful world it's final hour!" Lightning flashed and danced across the stainless steel crown of the building. "Yes....YES!" A meanacing grin spread across his face. He cackled insanely. "Hehhehhehheh...you've got what you deserved New York! What do you think of Christmas now?! Do you hear me?!" He shouted at the city below.  
  
***  
  
The Ghostbusters Firehouse  
  
Formerly the Hook and Ladder No.8 Firehouse, the building had been employed as the base of operations for the Ghostbusters since 1983. The building had more then it's fair share of explosions during the short time it had been occupied by the Ghostbusters, more than it's previous occupants had seen. However the building was showing signs of damage brought on by the storm, and while it's current occupants were on their way to the Chrysler Building, their HQ was slowly being knocked apart. The window above the double doors split, and then cobwebbed as crack lines spread to all corners of the window frame, having being compromised the window exploded inwards, showering the furniture and the roof of Ecto-1 in broken glass. The bunkroom window followed suit, and then the smaller windows in the double doors. The wind wreaked havoc with the interior of the Firehouse. Books were blown of the shelves, the lamp, phone and computer on the top of Janine's desk were blown off and crashed to the floor. The christmas tree, lights and decorations that Ray and the other Ghostbusters had painstakenly hung up were torn down as their home was desecrated by the elements.  
  
***  
  
A NYPD squadcar was buried up to it's roof, the red and white siren lights barely poking through the snow. The Snow-Cat's catterpiller tracks pulverized the lights, shattering the coloured glass and crushing the metal lamp rotators. Inside the cabin, the occupants barly felt the bump. They were making good time, only half an hour and they were near 22nd Street, which give or take a street or two was about half the distance from the Chrysler Building, which was on East 42nd Street. Egon looked out at a nearby street sign covered in snow as they passed by. He had a map of Manhattan spawled in his lap above a small pile of spellbooks, a precaution.  
  
"We've passed the half way point, 22nd Street, it'll be another half hour before we get there." He reported, Winston stared out of the windscreen from the front seat next to Ray. Outside was a world that none of them had expected to see, a snowed in New York during a blackout. They could see some gas lights and candles in office and apartment windows, but a majority we permenantly dark. It was now getting darker outside, the green numbers on the digital clock read 6:21PM, the siren lights on the roof caused the shadows to morph and change shape as they travelled along a snow-clogged Fifth Avenue.  
  
"At least we don't have to worry about the traffic." Peter joked, a dead set of suspended traffic lights hung precariously low, almost scraping along the Ecto-Cat's roof.  
  
"Weren't those hanging a little too low?" Winston asked.  
  
"You have to remember that currently we're travelling over the cars that would have been stuck when the power went out, so traffic lights, lampposts and building entrances are going to be a lot lower, we'll be lucky if the entrance to the Chrysler isn't completely buried." Ray explained.  
  
"Well, if it is we can smash our way into one of the offices the next floor up." Winston replied.  
  
"Wow." Ray remarked as he saw the top half of a greyhound bus pass by.  
  
"What is it?" Peter asked.  
  
"Nothing, just go back to sleep Peter." Ray replied. Peter crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. The light sounds of Peter's snoring rose up from the back of the vehicle.  
  
"Does anyone want to trade seats?" Janine asked. Nobody answered.  
  
***  
  
He stood atop the silver eagle, with the spellbook held out in front and cast the first of the last three stages of the spell.  
  
"Now that the world has been plunged into an darkened doom, forever incarcereate them in an icy tomb!" Iain screamed out at New York. Even though the eagle was slick and slippery with ice he'd been able to get a good foothold, almost like he was rooted to the spot.  
  
You have to stop this!  
  
"I've been waiting for you!" Iain growlled at the voice in his head, a sinister smile played across his lips. "Dark powers that flow through me, take away that which tries to fail thee!" A bolt of lightning stabbed down from the storm above and struck Iain, an bright flash erupted from his body as a form was tossed towards the balcony. "Hehheh...you honestly thought that I couldn't harm you, that being inside my brain would grant you a twisted sanctaury." He stared at his new twin. "But the books I have aquired contain more than mere apocalypse spells, they contained magic that can seperate the very essence of the soul! All I need to do is memorise the passage, and I can wreak whatever damaged I see fit!" The madman had finally done it. He'd been able to rid himself of the one sane aspect he'd ever had. And now that one sane aspect was to be banished along with the rest of humanity. Iain's conscience, now a spitting image of Iain sheilded his eyes as a series of bright flashes flowed from the spellbook into evil Iain's body.  
  
"My God, what have I done?" Iain thought as his evil counterpart laughed hysterically on the silver eagle. I've failed.  
  
Chapter Fourteen  
  
6:51PM  
  
The Snow-Cat was passing the intersection of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue when Ray let out a low whistle, it was half buried under the snow but they could easily see the lower half of the spire of the Empire State Building sticking at an angle out of the ground.  
  
"Would've hated to be there when that thing fell." Ray commented quietly. The Snow-Cat was only seven streets away from the Chrysler Building, but when they reached the New York Public Library, they'd have to take a corner onto East 42nd Street. As each street passed the library and it's famous lions got closer. Never did get that pesky spook... Maybe soon. Ray thought as the facade of the library passed.  
  
"Here's the turning." Egon pointed, Ray pulled The Snow-Cat through a right hand turn onto East 42nd Street. "It's on Lexington Avenue, the first turning past the ramp at Grand Central." Egon added. The Snow-Cat slowly moved down the street, passing lampposts at odd angles and smashed store fronts which were mostly buried in snow.  
  
***  
  
Lightning flashed violently across the sky as Iain screamed into the wind. The other Iain crouched by the rusted garden table as he tried to deal with the circumstances.  
  
I shouldn't even be here! I'm just part...was just part of his psyche. He crawled across the snow riddled balcony over to the safety rail, and was sure he spotted flashing blue lights far below. The doors leading back into the abandoned Cloud Club banged open and closed as the wind rushed around the building, it thought he could hear glass breaking as the wind started to blow out the office windows below.  
  
Chapter Fifteen  
  
The Ecto-Cat pulled up outside of the Lexington Avenue entrance to the Chrysler Building. The Ghostbusters climbed out of the Snow-Cat and proceeded towards the main entrance, by all rights it should have been buried, but it wasn't. The Ghostbusters pushed open the doors and stepped into the dark lobby. A small pile of snow had built up where it had fallen through the broken door pane.  
  
"How long will it take us to climb the stairs? this building had more than seventy stories!" Peter muttered. Egon noticed a soft glow towards the back of the lobby.  
  
"We might not need the stairs." Egon replied as he walked towards the bank of elevators. He pushed the call button and received the metallic "ping".  
  
"How did he do that?" Peter asked as the group appeared at Egon's side. They stepped into the elevator and Egon pressed the button for the 75th Floor. The double doors slid shut and the elevator car rose slowly.  
  
"I didn't, Iain must have used spiritual energy granted to him by other books in his possession to power up the elevator, that's why the illuminations on the spire are operating during the blackout, he's utilising the spiritual energy to power the building so he can read the words from the book. Egon theorised.  
  
***  
  
"Why are you doing this? Mankind doesn't deserve to suffer because you did!" Iain turned to face his good counterpart. "My God!" The other Iain exclaimed as he stared at his evil counterpart, he had taken on a look of possession, his evil counterpart's eyes glowed a insane red and his mouth was a twisted sneer, he spoke with an unearthly tone, as if someone was speaking with him.  
  
"Of course it deserves to suffer! It must learn that foolish holidays are the thing of the past. Worshipping gods is the new craze, and if I have to kill people to make them understand then so be it." Lightning flashed out of the book and smashed into the MetLife Building, the sides of the building exploded in a avalanche of broken glass, steel and concrete. Two of the giant neon letters broke free from the roof and tumbled down to the ground. The hexagonal top of the building groaned as it gave way and collapsed backwards, falling onto the Helmsley Building below. Another flash shot towards the QueensBoro Bidge, it's supports already weakened could not withstand the uneartly energy and failed, the bridge collapsed onto Rooservelt Island, taking the tramline with it. "You pittyful fools!" Evil Iain's voice was no longer his own. "You would rather die than worship me, well now I shall have my vengence on the world that tortured me!" Iain stumbled back towards the door into the Cloud Club, only to be knocked down as the door was kicked open.  
  
***  
  
The Ghostbusters arrived on the 75th Floor and stepped out into the reception area of the Cloud Club.  
  
"Where to?" Peter asked, a bang which echoed from the Ballroom told them where to go, they ran off towards the doors leading out onto the balcony.  
  
Chapter Sixteen  
  
Winston kicked the door open and recognised the persopn in front of him.  
  
"That's him." He growlled.  
  
"Wait, stop!" The man cowered at the possible threat, raising his hands to protect himself. Peter did a double take.  
  
"Yo Guys! I think we've got a case of double jeopardy!" Peter replied as he pointed at the cowering Iain's evil twin. The group followed his gaze to the man standing on the eagle above.  
  
"But, they're the same guy!" Janine shouted. Egon pulled out his PKE meter and scanned both of their biorythems.  
  
"Who are you?" Ray asked.  
  
"Technically, I suppose I am Iain Stewarts, but I shouldn't be. I guess you could say that I'm the good part of him." Iain shrugged, shivering a little from the cold.  
  
"The meter confirms it, the Iain Stewarts stood before us doesn't register strongly on the PKE Meter because he is charged with positive ions. The Meter has got a stronger lock on the second reading, the other Iain Stewarts who is charged with negative ions." Egon explained.  
  
"In English Egon!" Peter shouted.  
  
"Every human has an equal level of positive and negatively charged ions, however Mr. Stewarts had managed to split himself using black and anchient magiks, creating a good copy and a bad copy. Mr. Stewarts stood in front of us here, is the good copy..." Egon directed a hand at the shivering good copy.  
  
"And the jolly guy on the eagle's the psychopathic twin." Winston finished.  
  
"Cruder words then I would've used, but precisely correct." Egon ajusted his glasses which had been sent down his nose by a strong gust of wind.  
  
"So how do we beat him?" Peter asked.  
  
"We could reverse the polarity of the partcile throwers, but I'm not sure how they will fare in the atmaspheric distortions!" Egon shouted as the wind grew stonger as it whistled around the building.  
  
"Is there anything I can do? I can't help but feel responcible for this." Iain replied.  
  
"There is a way, if you were to make contact with your counterpart, you'd merge back together again." Egon explained.  
  
"Then let's do it!" Ray cheered.  
  
"There's a danger!" Egon shouted. The group became quiet.  
  
"If the evil copy of Iain has a higher charge then you, when you merge he'll be the dominant half, we wouldn't be able to stop him when you remerged, you'd be totally destoryed by the evil that is consuming him. We'd need to increase your charge to higher of that his and hope it is enough to make the good half, the dominant half." Egon continued.  
  
"And how do we do that?" Peter asked.  
  
"We shoot him with the particle accelerators." Egon replied bluntly.  
  
"Whoa Egon! I though you said that would be bad?!" Peter shouted.  
  
"Not if we turn down the beam strengh, however to compensate for the beam strengh being cut we'd have to get closer so that the charging will take effect." Egon continued.  
  
"We'll, we've dealt with this kind of situation before and not turned back." Winston replied.  
  
"But I must also warn that if his charge is too great, it could result in a massive explosion that would reduce this building and the an area half a mile wide into a smoking crater. So anyone who doesn't want to go through with this leave now, those who stay here." Egon replied.  
  
"What the Hell, after all I wouldn't want you to die without me being there to annoy you!" Peter placed his hand out.  
  
"Well, seeing as I wasn't able to stop him before now and that you'll need me then I'm in." Iain placed his hand on top of Peter's.  
  
"I'll never want to miss an spiritual event like this." Ray Placed his hand on top of Iain's, he was followed by Slimer.  
  
"If I'm doomed to be with you guys the rest of my life then I'm not going to let Dr. Venkman have the last laugh." Janine placed he hand on top of Slimer's.  
  
"I never run out on my friends." Winston placed his hand on top of Janine's. Egon placed his hand on top of Winston's.  
  
"Then we're agreed, if this doesn't work then It's been nice knowing all of you." Peter surmised. The group returned the feeling.  
  
"Alright Mr. Stewart, you will probably feel a slight tingling sensation. However, this won't harm you." Iain stood in front of them. All six Ghostbusters lined up and readied their guns.  
  
"Reduce you're beam buy 50%! Then reverse the polarity" Egon shouted, the group twisted the silver knob on the side of the gun housing.  
  
"On Three!" Peter shouted.  
  
"One...two...THREE!" Six people shouted out in unison as six beams of protons surged towards Iain. His body shook and bucked as the beams surrounded him.  
  
"Keep it up for the next ten seconds!" Egon shouted. The guns bucked in their hands as they fired. "NOW!" Egon commanded. The beams were shut off, Iain stumbled back as the restraining power of the beams faded and he then collapsed to the floor. Peter and Janine helped him up from the floor.  
  
"He's fine." Egon replied, giving Iain a quick check for injuries. They helped Iain up, he glowed a little from the charge. Peter looked up at the madman on the eagle.  
  
"We need a distraction, any ideas?" He asked. They looked at him. "Great." Peter muttered.  
  
Chapter Seventeen  
  
He stood there, overseeing it all. The destruction of the human world was happeneing right in front of him and he was enjoying every bit of it. He had not expected what was to come next...  
  
"Hey, you!" Iain whirled around to face...  
  
"Dr. Peter Venkman, would you like me to give you a examination, on the house of course." Peter grinned.  
  
"What?! One of the infamous Ghostbusters?!..." He studied Peter. "I've heard of you."  
  
"You know that's good, that's perfect. Did you know I am a student of parapsychology so technically you fall into my field of expertise." Iain's blood red eyes narrowed at the human. "You seem to be extremely bitter at Christmas like I used to be, did this start in your childhood?" Iain hissed and a ball of flame shot from his upraised hand, Peter ducked. The ball of flame smashed into the wall behind him. "Good, we know where it started. I'm guessing that it's emotionally involved, the lack of a loved one perhapse?" Iain hissed again.  
  
"What would you know?" Iain hissed and tossed another fireball at Peter, this one missed and shattered the triangular window behind him. Peter continued to edge his way along the eagle. He glanced down to see how Ray and Egon were doing, they were about to hoist Iain up onto the eagle.  
  
"I know that the lack of a loved one can be very damaging, emothion wise. I'm guessing that...your father is the problem!" This made Iain angrier  
  
"You can't talk to me about my father, he was stolen from me!"  
  
"By what?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Christmas."  
  
"Uh-huh, and you based this soley on?" Peter continued.  
  
"The fact that getting home to celebrate it killed him." A third fireball zoomed towards Peter, he was almost too late to duck it.  
  
"I don't believe that you blame Christmas, I beleive you blame yourself. That if your father hadn't been rushing home to be able to spend time with his kid on Christmas Eve then he would be alive."  
  
"No!" Iain's sneer faulterred.  
  
"NO! You're lying, trying to stop me." Iian spat.  
  
"He's right Iain!" Evil Iain looked up, his good counterpart stood in front of him. Peter jumped down to the balcony below.  
  
"You! I should have killed you before they got here!" A mischevous smile crept across good Iain's face. "What the hell are you smiling about?!" Evil Iain bellowed.  
  
"Too late, you're gonna pay for the pain you've caused them." he gestured at the city and the Ghostbusters. They both started to glow. Good Iain yellow, Evil Iain red.  
  
"No! stop, you musn't!" Evil Iain screeched, raising his arms to protect himself. Good Iain grabbed Evil Iain's shoulders and they started to phase, the spellbook passed through Good Iain's back as the procees neared completion, a bright flash erupted which caused those on the balcony to sheild their eyes.  
  
"Ow!" Peter shouted. When they opened their eyes again they saw only one Iain.  
  
"Is he?" Winston asked as he moved forward to the balcony rail  
  
"Gone." Iain closed the book. The wind calmed down a little. "For the first time in who know how many years, I'm no longer part of him. He doesn't exist as a person any more."  
  
"It's good to finally meet the sane Iain." Peter shouted.  
  
"As long as I'm in control he'll never harm anybody again." A groan from above caught their attention.  
  
"What was that?" Janine asked.  
  
Chapter Eighteen  
  
8:00PM  
  
The Chrysler Building  
  
A classic example of 1920's architecure, it's spire a feat of engineering. Until three minutes ago it was the alter on which Iain Stewart had been ravaging the world, now that his insane plan had been stopped the world started to calm down. But a bolt of lightning from the dying storm had stabbed down the instant both Iains had merged and struck the spire, causing an explosion that was masked by the bright light brought on by the merging. The spire wobbled as the torn framework and skin gave way, and came crashing down onto the silver eagle, the brickwork gave way and the support struts began to buckle. The movement caused Iain to stumble forward, causing the book to fly from his hands and luckily land on the balcony, the eagle swung round and finally began the decent to the street below. Iain grabbed wildly and was rewarded when he grabbed Peter's outstretched hand.  
  
"Hold on Iain." Peter grunted. The railing groaned, it too had been damaged. Before they could raise Iain up the metal bar was pulled from the brick wall and collapsed, Peter fell forward and was only stopped from hitting East 42nd Street by Winston and Egon's quick thinking. Iain held on tightly to Peter's glove.  
  
"Help!" Iain shouted. The glove began to slide off Peter's hand.  
  
"No! Iain grab my other hand!" Peter shouted, he held out his other hand for Iain to grab. But was too late.  
  
"Noooooooooooooooo!" Iain began plummeting down, towards the ground. He soon disapeared into the darkness below. Peter stood up and looked with the others into the night sky. The spellbook's pages flipped in the wind. Winston looked down at the pile of books Egon had brought.  
  
"Is there anything in there that can reverse what happened?" Winston asked.  
  
"There just may be." Egon replied, he quickly went through the books, and pulled out a leather bound tome and opened it to an appropriate page. He handed the book to Winston.  
  
"It's the only way." The group formed a circle around him as he began reading out the lines. "Friends and relations have been lost through greed, bring back the life force which they need. To reverse a conjurer's spell that threatened to bring forth the forces of Hell..." The storm had stopped, or more accurately slowed down. Not noticeable at first, but getting quicker and quicker, the snow began moving upwards. They noticed ghostly versions of themselves doing what they had just done, in reverse. Soon the apparitions were moving quicker until the were moving more quickly then human, or ghost vision could pick up. The roof of the MetLife building rose from where it had crashed down, the sky started to brighten. The city lit up as the power flowed back into the buildings. In the distance the spire of the Empire State Building rose from it's rest on Fifth Avenue. Soon the smaller actions had become blurred and invisable as the days ran backwards. Winston glanced at his watch.  
  
December 20th...19th...18th.... The actions slowed down as the view shifted.  
  
Chapter Nineteen  
  
December 18th  
  
4:15PM  
  
"...Zeddemore, it's right over..." the store owner started shuffling books that were stray across the glass counter. He glanced over to a man who was standing near the end of the counter. Winston glanced around to find himself in Wagner's Occult Store.  
  
"Excuse me sir, that book's already been reserved. Could you please pass it over here?"  
  
"Sure" The familliar figure slid the book across the counter and started to gather his parcels.  
  
"Thankyou sir." The store owner wrapped up the book in wrapping paper. Winston stared at the man.  
  
Does he remember? The store owner handed Winston his purchases. "Thanks." Winston said as he started moving towards the door, he stopped. "Iain?" He asked, looking at the man, the man studied Winston for a moment, and then looked at him.  
  
"Yes." Iain replied.  
  
"You remember?" Winston asked.  
  
"Most of it." Iain replied.  
  
"Why don't you come over for Christmas?"  
  
"As much as I'd like to take you up on your offer...I really need to call my mom...I've got a lot of lost time to make up for...however, I can walk and talk until we get to the Subway." They both left the store as they talked about the events that technically didn't happen in the past few days that technically hadn't passed.  
  
Chapter Twenty December 24th 10:25AM  
  
"Well Egon, we know the Ecto-Cat's a success...even if technically it hasn't been field tested." Ray mused. "I'm just glad that what happened was reversed, a lot of people had died and more surely would have had Iain not been stopped. Ray and Egon stood outside the firehouse in gently falling snow.  
  
"Though, still not quite sure how we can remember the stuff which didn't actually happen." Peter replied as he made a snowball.  
  
"It's all really down to the workings of the laws of time, sometimes they simply work in ways we'll never be able to fathom." Egon replied thoughtfully. "It's even possible the mystic power of the books that were present there at the time could have created a temporal sheild over us, I'm willing to wager we were protected by the spell Winston recited."  
  
"Okay, I know what to get him for next Christmas." Peter muttered. "A Egon to English dictionary." Peter replied as he slapped more snow onto the snowball.  
  
"I can't help but how things would of turned out had the packs remained on for another sixty seconds." Egon quietly mused.  
  
"Why's that?" Ray asked.  
  
"Because if my calculations are correct, I believe the packs may have overloaded." Egon mused, he looked up to see Peter pointing the newly made snowball at Egon. "Oh dear."  
  
"Prepare to die Spengs!" Peter shouuted, he hurled the snowball at Egon. Snow was splattered onto Egon's glasses as a snowball thrown by Peter landed on his chest. Peter shouted started making more snowballs as Winston, Slimer and Janine started to pelt each other with their own snowballs. Ray just stood there watching Egon duck behind a snow mound and start tossing snowballs back. A snow ball impacted with Ray's thigh and he ducked, packing snow together to create ammo.  
  
"Janine, watch out!" Winston warned. "Egon's just..." a wet "thump" was heard form Janine's general direction.  
  
"Who threw that?!" She bellowed.  
  
"Haha!" Peter laughed.  
  
"Okay Dr. Venkman you asked for it!" Peter's laughing was ended when Janine smashed a snowball into his hair.  
  
"Hey you get away from me! I'm warning you." Peter started throwing snowballs wildly as Ray and Egon charged the opposite camp of Ghostbusters and entered the fray. Laughter erupted as everyone soon became covered in snow. Above them, snow fluttered down, past the colourful christmas lights and the 'Merry Christmas' banner which was hung outside of the Firehouse.  
  
THE END 


End file.
